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As Fall begins and the concert season starts to wind down, I’m realizing I had a pretty good run of live music in the past few months, and so I thought I would share some of my favorite snaps from my favorite concerts this summer/fall in Los Angeles.

The xx at The Hollywood BowlThe Naked and Famous at The WilternThe Naked and Famous at The WilternLorde at The FondaThe Local Natives at Sessions@72Lorde at The EchoplexImagine Dragons at The PalladiumImagine Dragons at The Palladium

I have never documented my love for Terroni’s first location in Los Angeles. But I have spent a birthday, several other special occasions, and simply lovely evenings there. So, when the 2nd Terroni location was announced for downtown LA, a mere 2 blocks from my loft, I was preeeeettyyyy excited.

Recently I had the chance to check the place out, whilst also celebrating a friends birthday. Not only was everything as delicious and lovely as I know and love, but the space is just incredible, thanks to a wonderful melding of modern and historical architecture.

LA’s finest tap water will come in pretty glass milk bottles, along with bread in a paper bag and simple tasty olive oil. We sampled a daily appetizer special — stuffed figs wrapping in bacon. Bacon + figs + cheese. Enough said. Not to mention a beautiful presentation on a wood board.

Garnished with some arugula and a candied pecan.

Moving on to the PASTA. It is all made from scratch in-house, as Nana intended. My favorite of favorites: spaghetti al limone. It didn’t disappoint. I have dreams about this one.

Second pasta was one of their daily special with fresh black truffles and a bolognese sauce. Also, insane, pasta heaven.

Finally, in true Italian form, we went big. All of Terroni’s secondi offerings are daily specials. So they are the freshest and most seasonal ingredients. Bone-in steak with arugula, tomatoes, and parmesan. Amazing, and delicious for lunch the next day too.

Hello! I am back! And, I have something good to share to boot. Leave it to food to yank me out of my blogging black hole.

I had been looking forward to visiting Little Beast since the moment I read about their opening. Well the day finally came when, along with one of my foodie BFFs, I journeyed over to Eagle Rock to have my mind blown. The restaurant is situated in a super cute old house with really awesome light fixtures:

I might need these for my house

My glass of rosé paired perfectly with the burrata and peaches. I’ll say it — and I overhead the table next to me say it if you don’t take my word for it — it was the best burrata I’ve had in a long time. Maybe ever. And nary does a burrata go untested in my presence.

burrata, peaches, arugula. enough said.

Next up: the Salmon Tartare. It is served on crispy rounds and mixed with avocado. It reminded me of one of my favorite Katsu-ya dishes (crispy sesame tuna) and was just as delicious, and the pesto that was drizzled around the plate gave it a little extra oomph.

Oddly I had been craving a good steak for the past couple weeks, so the very difficult choice between all of the entrees was made just a bit easier and my craving was not disappointed. It was awesome and I got to take some home to string the amazingness out into my lunch the next day.

paired with crispy onions, spinach, and an incredible sauce surely full of buttermedium-rare, obviously.

Besides the regular seasonal menu, they had several amazing-sounding specials, so my friend went for the cioppino which was wonderfully spiced with fennel and other fragrant and tasty things.

Given all of the perfection, we couldn’t pass up dessert — vanilla bread pudding and a little french press coffee.

topped with freshly whipped cream

All I can say is good thing I skipped lunch and took half my entree home with me! Oh and, when can I go back?

Every time one of my favorite foodie friends from SF comes to visit, I am chomping at the bit to check a new restaurant off my to-eat list. Recently, it worked out perfectly to finally eat at Bestia in the Arts District of downtown LA. From the moment we pulled up to the industrial-modern-rustic space, walked in the door to gaze upon the vibrant crowd, space with high ceilings, great industrial and modern fixtures and materials, and an open kitchen bustling with action and yumminess-in-creation, I was hooked. I am almost always a fan of counter seating for the up-close and personal view of what is happening in the kitchen and the opportunity to interact with the staff at work, so I was happy to have just such a seat in front of the salad and appetizer station where we watched board after board of fresh, house-cured charcuterie being assembled with the utmost care and attention, including ours. From the charcuterie to the heavenly broccolini special and the meatballs to the house made pastas, everything we enjoyed was done to perfection. Bottom line: I highly recommend Bestia, and can’t wait to go back.